Colorado State basketball ranked for first time since 1954

Rams debut at No. 24 in AP Top 25

Colorado State senior guard Wes Eikmeier and the Rams are ranked for the first time since 1954, debuting at No. 24 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches poll this week.
(Steve Stoner)

FORT COLLINS -- Wednesday won't be the first time that Colorado State pays homage to its history by donning orange and green uniforms, a tribute to when the university wore those colors as the Colorado A&M Aggies.

It will, however, perhaps be the most fitting, as the Rams will be playing as a nationally ranked team for the first time since 1954, one of the program's final seasons as the Aggies.

The Rams played only once last week, winning at Nevada, 73-69, thanks to a career-best 28 points from Greg Smith. But that was enough to squeeze in the AP Top 25 as Creighton, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Missouri all dropped out after going a combined 1-7.

CSU received 125 votes in the AP poll, 12 behind No. 23 Oregon (19-5) and 38 ahead of No. 25 Kentucky (17-6), the defending national champions who returned to the rankings for the first time this season since late November.

"That's great. You know, obviously coaches downplay it ... as hard as (it is) to get there, it can slip away, but that's neat," CSU coach Larry Eustachy said during Monday's coaches teleconference. "That's neat for our players, that's neat for our program. So that's exciting news for our guys, but we still have to play a difficult game on Wednesday and then one on Saturday."

With four straight wins, CSU has matched its best start through 24 games in program history. This year's team is also the fastest to 19 victories, and is the only CSU men's squad to start MW play 6-2.

Monday marked the fifth week ever the Rams have been nationally ranked; the previous four all came between January and February of 1954, when the team went on to play in its first NCAA Tournament.

Last season they made it to the Big Dance for the ninth time, a remarkable turnaround by a program that went just 7-25 and 0-16 in the MW four seasons prior.

"It's unbelievable the strides that we've made over these years," Smith said. "But we have a lot of unfinished business that we still need to take care of at the end of this year."

The Rams won't be the only ranked team Wednesday at Moby Arena (8 15 p.m., CBS Sports) as visiting San Diego State (18-5, 6-3) jumped up three spots Monday in the coaches poll to No. 22 after beating Boise State and Fresno State at home this past week.

With those wins, the Aztecs are right in the thick of the MW title race, a game behind first-place No.19 New Mexico (20-4, 7-2) and a half-game behind second-place CSU.

"We know the challenge that's facing us heading into Fort Collins. They are a very experienced team. ... One of, if not the best, rebounding teams in the United States of America," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said of CSU on Monday's conference call. "Put those ingredients together on a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last year, and they're very, very good. They're genuinely one of the best teams in the country."